On Monday, at 2:11 pm local time, New Zealand’s White Island volcano unexpectedly erupted, blasting a superheated plume of ash, sulfur gas, and steam 12,000 feet in the air and blanketing the crater’s floor in powdered rock and debris. At the time, dozens of people were visiting the popular tourist destination, also known by its…

The world of cryptocurrency has no shortage of imaginary investment products. Fake coins. Fake blockchain services. Fake cryptocurrency exchanges. Now five men behind a company called BitClub Network are accused of a $722 million scam that allegedly preyed on victims who thought they were investing in a pool of bitcoin mining equipment.Federal prosecutors call the…

When thieves want to steal treasures surrounded by sensors and alarms, they sometimes resort to cutting the power, disrupting the flow of electricity to those expensive security systems. It turns out that hackers can pull off a similar trick: breaking the security mechanisms of Intel chips by messing with their power supply, and exposing their…

When I saw Marriage Story a few weeks ago, I was more than a little bit surprised. Director Noah Baumbach has made a series of great films, from Kicking and Screaming to The Squid and the Whale, and I had every expectation I would enjoy his latest. I did. What I didn’t expect was that…

In episode 3 of The Mandalorian, Mando wants to spy on some Imperial remnants. (No spoilers here—I’ll just say it’s important for him to plan his next move.) So he goes up on a nearby roof and aims his Amban rifle at the wall of a building. Then, making an adjustment on his digital aiming…

The idea of “government” is generally not an inspirational notion. It doesn’t naturally come to mind when considering business concepts such as, say, return on investment. Or invention. Or creativity. Or the future.But it should. The United States government has provided the growth and innovation engine for leading American industries as diverse as agriculture, electronics,…

“Data is the new oil” may have outlasted its usefulness as a metaphor, but one aspect still rings true: Both industries have a serious environmental footprint. According to the Department of Energy, data centers account for about 2 percent of all electricity use in the US.That means the cloud—which powers every Netflix binge, PUBG match,…

In the spring of 2017, Giertz started to notice that her right eyelid was swollen. A fan on Twitter even commented on it: “What happened to your right eye? It's like a bump above the eyelid.” A year later, in April 2018, the eye started to ache. MRI scans revealed a noncancerous meningioma growing on…

Every year, TechCrunch dives deep into the international startup scene to find innovative startups to compete in Startup Battlefield – TechCrunch’s famous global startup competition. Today, at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin…

Wayv is taking a big step towards mainstreaming the cannabis industry. Wayv Payments, launching today, is said to be the first digital, compliant payment solution for the cannabis supply chain.…